1914 (British Ace) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was likely to happen.
    The Quartermaster Sergeant, Harry Grimes, was the oldest soldier we had and the most experienced.  I had no idea of his age; one of the lads joked that he had been at Balaclava but I didn’t believe that for a moment.  What he did have was authority.  When he spoke then everyone, even Sergeant Armstrong listened.
    “You lads will have to make sure the troopers practice firing dismounted.  We learned that fighting the Boers.  It isn’t as easy as they might think.  There’ll be no charges like Omdurman in this war. We also need a couple of sections training for the two machine guns we are getting next week.”
    The shock statement made everyone look at each other. Machine guns meant a fixed position and we had always believed we would be mobile. I turned to Sergeant Armstrong, “I don’t fancy that sarge.”
    “You are too good a horseman to waste you behind a static gun.  I think that Major Harrison will impress on the colonel that we need to use the likes of you and your lads as scouts.  Find the enemy, that will be your job.”
    “Someone said that we can’t serve outside Britain.”
    “And that is right but they are changing the law to allow it.  To be honest it was always up to the colonel of the regiment or the Lord Lieutenant.  They are happy for us to serve and so we probably shall.”
    “But where will the war be fought?  Will they send us to the Balkans?”
    He swallowed some of his beer and shrugged, “I doubt it but it could be anywhere. Russia, Italy, Austria and even Turkey are all taking sides. It could be anywhere.” I must have looked worried for he smiled and said, “Listen son, it doesn’t matter where they send us; we just do our duty.  It’s what the British soldier has done for years.  The thin red line, the charge of the Light Brigade, Rorke’s Drift they are all places where British soldiers followed their orders and that’s what we will do.”
    He was right.  The politicians might not be trustworthy but the generals were dependable and we could rely on them. Lord Kitchener and the others would make sure that we prevailed.  If there was a war then I was sure that we would win.
    Mobilisation came sooner than thought; it was the second week of July.  Our goodbyes had to be hurried. Because of my position I had to tell his lordship first. He was torn; he knew the regiment had to follow orders but he hated losing me.
    “I took the liberty, your lordship, of showing young Albert, my brother, how to drive.  I am sure he could drive you when necessary.”
    Albert was delighted as it was a cleaner job and he received more money.  Since my brothers had left I had become something of a hero to him. Sarah told me one night how he modelled himself on me. It was flattering but I was no hero.  Dad was the hero.  Still I knew that I had looked up to John right until the moment he had threatened the family. That was the reason I had used his opinion of me to make him into a driver; it might keep him safe. Mother was tearful.  We only had two days to get ready and say our goodbyes.  She kept wringing her hands every time she looked at me and her eyes were permanently puffy and red. It did not help when all of the newspapers were full of Balkan atrocities. It was not the Germans who worried my mother, after all they were related to our Royal Family, it was these other foreigners.  The fact that they came from somewhere so far to the east also made her suspicious.
    “I might not even be going to the Balkans.  We’ll probably just be sent to somewhere down south.”
    “And that is just as bad.  I can’t abide southerners.  You should stay here in Lancashire! You can trust northern folk.”
    The thought that the people in the south of Britain were somehow different to us made us all laugh and parting a little easier.
    Dad took me to the stables to pick up Caesar. “Just do your duty son, that’s all anyone can ever ask.” He patted Caesar